Photos of the day: 4/17

photos of the day

A Russian made MIG 21 fighter jet maneuvers next to a US Air Force F-16 piloted by Maj. Dustin Yogi Brown, right, and transporting Romanian Premier Victor Ponta during a military exercise in Campia Turzii, Romania. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A Ukrainian soldier controls a road on the outskirts of Izyum, Eastern Ukraine. Ukraine is hoping to placate Russia and calm hostilities with its neighbor even as the U.S. prepares a new round of sanctions to punish Moscow for what it regards as fomenting unrest. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A woman stands by a fire she lit near a grave in the village of Copaciu, southern Romania. Romanians visit on Maundy Thursday the graves of their loved ones, light fires and share food with community members in memory of the departed - part of a Holy Week tradition. Orthodox and Catholic worshipers celebrate Easter on April 20. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Passersby look at a motorcycle destroyed in a car bomb attack in Baghdad’s Habibiya neighborhood, Iraq. Three car bombs targeting commercial streets crowded with shoppers in Baghdad on Wednesday, killed and wounded scores of people, police said. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

An Afghan farmer works on a poppy field in the Khogyani district of Jalalabad, east of Kabul, Afghanistan. Last May’s harvest produced a staggering 5,500 metric tons (6,000 tons) of opium, 49 percent higher than the previous year and more than the combined output of the rest of the world, according to a report issued Wednesday by the United Nations’ drug control agency. Poppy cultivation is expected to increase in both eastern and western provinces of the country. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

An Indian villager looks through her veil as she attends an election rally by Mohammad Kaif, a Congress party candidate from Phulpur, in the Soraon area, 45 kilometers (28 miles) from Allahabad, India,. Indians cast ballots Thursday on the biggest day of voting in the country’s weekslong general election, streaming into polling stations even in areas where leftist rebels threatened violence over the plight of India’s marginalized and poor. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A child holds on to the sari of her grandmother standing in a queue to cast her vote in Rajnandgaon, in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, now the center of India’s four-decade Maoist insurgency. . THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A diver dressed as the Easter Bunny swims among sharks, rays and other species of fish in the shipwreck habitat at the South East Asia Aquarium of Resorts World Sentosa, a popular tourist attraction in Singapore. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A woman offers prayers during a candlelight vigil for the missing passengers of a sunken ferry at Danwon High School in Ansan, South Korea. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photos of the day: 4/17

A Ukrainian soldier controls a road on the outskirts of Izyum, Eastern Ukraine. Ukraine is hoping to placate Russia and calm hostilities with its neighbor even as the U.S. prepares a new round of sanctions to punish Moscow for what it regards as fomenting unrest. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS